"Fauna" by Donna Mazza

I read “ghost species” by James Bradley a few weeks ago which was speculative fiction looking into de-extinction and bringing back Neanderthals through ancient DNA and IVF techniques and some of the story was told through the eyes of the resulting child. I was intrigued to find out that another author, Donna Mazza, had also chosen this somewhat niche topic to write a novel on recently. So I decided to start reading this one soon after finishing “ghost species” so I can compare the two while “ghost species” is still fairly fresh in my mind.

Started reading: 31 July 2020
Finished: 5th August 2020
My score/thoughts: 6/10
If you are going to read one of these two books, choose "Ghost Species", as "Fauna" spent so much time in the minutae of IVF). Plus I also found the ethics of why this family chose to have a Neanderthal baby problematic, and didnt really ever warm to the mother/main character.

Aussie Author Stats: Female author, New author to me, Genre: Speculative Fiction.

"Bruny" by Heather Rose

Started reading: 24th June 2020

Finished: 14th July 2020

My score: 5-6/10.

Aussie author stats: Female author, new author to me, contemporary/general fiction, drama

My review: I read this as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2020, new author to me, female author, general fiction. It was recommended a lot in the Chat10Looks3 podcast group, so maybe I had higher expectations than the book deserved going in to it, but I was pretty underwhelmed. It was ok, nice to read a book set in Tassie, but half the book was a thinly veiled coating on current politics - think “First Nation” as standing in for “One Nation” or “Family First” party (without seeming to notice that "First Nations" sounds like it should be an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander party (which it isn't in this book), “Barnaby Viper” as one of the Liberal Ministers etc. and then finally when the book looked like it was going to get interesting it took a dive into so many far fetched ideas it became kind of a comedy.